work from home extra income Archives | Work from Home Happiness https://workfromhomehappiness.com/tag/work-from-home-extra-income/ Get Hired. Be Happy. From Home. Mon, 17 Jan 2022 15:49:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7 https://workfromhomehappiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-wfh-happiness-favicon-1-32x32.png work from home extra income Archives | Work from Home Happiness https://workfromhomehappiness.com/tag/work-from-home-extra-income/ 32 32 Balance Holiday Spending with a Side Hustle https://workfromhomehappiness.com/side-hustles-for-the-holidays/ https://workfromhomehappiness.com/side-hustles-for-the-holidays/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2016 18:45:38 +0000 http://workfromhomehappiness.com/?p=4967 ‘Tis the season of overindulgence and overspending. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the average American will spend somewhere between $800 – $900 on holiday gifts alone — that doesn’t include travel, decor, or festive foods! And considering that more than 50% of workers take home less than $30,000 a year, that $900 can be a pretty […]

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'Tis the season for too much spending. Add balance to your bank account with a holiday side hustle you can grow into the new year!‘Tis the season of overindulgence and overspending. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the average American will spend somewhere between $800 – $900 on holiday gifts alone — that doesn’t include travel, decor, or festive foods!

And considering that more than 50% of workers take home less than $30,000 a year, that $900 can be a pretty substantial chunk of change.

So, before putting yourself into debt to get through the holidays or stressing about how much to spend on Black Friday, consider side hustling for the holidays (and beyond!).

Yes, it’s already a busy time of year but, once all is said and done, you’ll get through the new year financially fit without a bit of buyer’s remorse.

Stella & Dot

This time of year people readily open their wallets. Why not be the person that sells them something? When you join Stella & Dot as a jewelry merchandiser, you can.

As a stylist, you get your own personalized website, coaching support, and product discounts. Plus, you can sell both online and in person, earning as much as 35% commission on each sale made.

There are a number of starter kits to choose from tailored for full-time, part-time, and side-hustlin’ sellers. Even if you’re crunched for time, you can make it work. Successful stylists spend as little as 5-10 hours a week side hustling for Stella & Dot.

Call Center QA

Mystery shopping has been a longheld, tried and true way to earn extra income. But, back in the day, you’d use to have to visit stores, restaurants and shops in person. Not anymore.

Today, completing a shop is as easy as picking up the phone. At Call Center QA, you can sign up as a mystery shopper and start earning $5 for each call you complete.

Calls can range from asking an auto parts store what their hours are to phoning a hair salon about services (and everything in between). There are no minimum calls to make and you never have to worry about background noise — hooray for parents and pet owners!

UserTesting

If you’re comfortable navigating websites and are able to easily work your way through an app, you can become a usability tester. There are a number of companies that readily hire testers but my personal fave is UserTesting.

They pay $10 for each test you perform and often offer additional opportunities to earn. Online market research studies and focus group panels can earn  you as much as $100 for an hour’s worth of time — not too shabby.

Another bonus is the fact you do not have to record your face or use your webcam as a tester here. Instead, you just need to speak your thoughts out loud. Their easy-to-use screen recorder will capture your screen movement and your voice as you complete assigned tests. It’s an easy and fun way to make $10 for 10 minutes of your time.

BookScouter

If you’ve got a shelf full of books collecting dust, turn them into a pile of cash. All you need to do is download the free BookScouter app, scan your books’ ISBNs and BookScouter will tell you what they’re worth to various buyers like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Chegg, etc.

Even if you’re not a bibliophile, you can use the BookScouter app to find valuable titles at second-hand stores and garage sales.

If you’re looking for a booklovers’ side hustle (and even if you’re not) BookScouter makes it easy-peasy to make extra cash selling everything from bestsellers to textbooks in just a few clicks!

Turo

Your car’s not making any money sitting in your driveway. Why not put it to work instead? With Turo,  you can.

When you sign up for Turo, you don’t have to pick up strangers or drive others anywhere like you would with Lyft or Uber. Instead, you loan your car to others in exchange for cash. The best part? Turo has got you covered with their $1 million insurance policy.

You’re also in control of your earnings and can even set mileage limits per trip. It’s free to sign up and list your car on Turo — there are never any buy-in or listing fees. Payments are deposited in your bank account within 5 days — that’s it!

Rover

There’s a lot of holiday traveling. This means there’s also a lot of pets that need watching and walking. For animal lovers, this offers an opportunity to earn money each month with Rover.

When you sign up on Rover, you’ll create a profile, set your own rates, and start booking stays. Depending on your availability and resources, services can include: dog boarding, house sitting, drop-in visits, doggy daycare, and dog walking.

As a Rover sitter, you’re not alone. You’ll get tons of support and advice that will help you grow your business well into the new year and beyond.

Cambly

How’s your English? If you’re a native English speaker, you can use Cambly to make money just by having conversations with others.

You don’t need any professional tutoring experience. In fact, students use Cambly to improve their conversational English, not learn the finer points of structuring sentences and proper grammar.

Cambly is super flexible to use as a tutor — students “call in” and, as a tutor, you can choose whether or not to “answer” a call. If you’re available — great. If not, no problem.

Clear Your Clutter

The holidays bring about lots of cheer along with plenty of gifts and extra visitors. Before accepting anything new, why not get rid of some of the old?

With Amazon’s Trade-In Program, you can easily sell some of your old tech, gadgets, and goods for credit on Amazon. And while not as good as cash, you can still put a big dent in your holiday budget by paying for gifts with Amazon credit.

Old cell phones and other tech can bring in the most credit but other items are valuable too. Fortunately, Amazon makes it easy to see what they’ll buy back from you and your item’s value before you commit to letting it go.

Survey Junkie

I know what you’re thinking — “Not another survey site!” But hear me out — no two survey sites are created equal. Some are downright awful. But others can actually be a pretty good source of extra income and rewards.

One of my favorites is Survey Junkie. Why? First and foremost, they place focus on user experience. This means they keep their survey takers happy (and have the reviews to prove it).

What makes them stand out the most is the fact they offer same day payouts — no waiting weeks or even months to receive your rewards. Speaking of which, you can redeem points earned for cash or gift cards. Amazon, Sephora, Target and Groupon are their top retailers. So, sign up today to start wracking up points you can redeem tomorrow!

Even More Extra Money Ideas

‘Tis the season of overspending. Get (and stay) ahead of the game by adopting a side hustle or two or three!

But because no two side hustles are created equal, here’s a list of 101+ ways to earn extra money online. Between transcribing to teaching, mystery shopping and moderation, there’s really something for everyone.

Get Your Side Hustle Off the Ground

Looking for a way to start your own side hustle from scratch? Have a great idea for a business but don’t know how to get started? No problem!

Brette Rowley has got you covered. Check out The Side Hustle Starter Kit to learn how Brette launched her own business in 30 days and quit her 9 to 5 all while working with a tight budget. Hint: She was profitable from the very beginning! And she’s teaching you everything she did to get there. If you’re ready to follow your passions and get serious about your side hustle, this is the course for you!

 

This post contains affiliate links. I only recommend businesses, brands, products and services I know and love. You can learn more about my use of affiliate links by reading the disclosure statement

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Side Hustle Guide for the Social Media Savvy https://workfromhomehappiness.com/social-media-side-hustle/ https://workfromhomehappiness.com/social-media-side-hustle/#comments Sun, 07 Aug 2016 10:30:25 +0000 http://workfromhomehappiness.com/?p=4539 Social media is an important part of any marketing plan. One-woman bloggers to multi-billion dollar corporations rely on social media to help raise brand awareness, generate buzz, and connect with customers. And regardless how big or small a business’s social following, it takes a lot of work to build an engaged audience and keep them […]

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Turn your love of social media into a side hustle. This side hustle guide for the social media savvy will show you what you need to do to launch your own successful side business -- from companies hiring right now to how to create your own gig, this guide has it all!Social media is an important part of any marketing plan. One-woman bloggers to multi-billion dollar corporations rely on social media to help raise brand awareness, generate buzz, and connect with customers.

And regardless how big or small a business’s social following, it takes a lot of work to build an engaged audience and keep them coming back for more. Plus, there’s quite a bit of strategy involved in how to post and when, and what social channels a business should even devote their energy to in the first place.

Really, it can be a full-time job (and then some) just to keep up on social media. And just when you think you’ve got it down, bam, there’s an algorithm change that makes your previous social strategy ineffective.

How are businesses, brands, and bloggers keeping up? Well, many solopreneurs, small business owners, and companies outsource parts of their social presence to someone. And if you’re social media savvy, that ‘someone’ could be you!

Seriously.

While it might sound like a dream come true to actually earn an income tweeting, snapping, pinning, and posting, know this: Sharing memes, selfies, and social commentary on your personal profiles is a lot different than what will be expected of you as a professional social media manager.

But, the good news is, you can use your love of social networking as a solid foundation to help you launch a successful social media side hustle (say that ten times real fast). And, there’s such a high demand for this service, who knows, it could become your full-time job.

The Quick-Start Method

If you want to get started putting your social skills to work, like, yesterday, signing up with an already established company that offers social media jobs is probably your best bet. Fortunately, there are a growing number of companies that contract with the social media savvy, like you, to provide a variety of services.

$99 Social 

$99 Social is on a mission to help make social media management affordable for small businesses. Here, you can get hired on as a part-time content specialist. Which means you’ll mostly search for share-worthy content, write short intros for posts, and prep them to go live on the appropriate social channel. You can expect to earn an average of $12/hour once you get through 6-7 hours of self-paced training.

eaHELP Social Media Assistant

At eaHELP you’ll be part virtual assistant and part social media assistant. This means that while the bulk of your work will be social-related, you might also need to work on general administrative tasks, too. Assistants are matched to clients, so this work may not be as flexible as you’d like for a side hustle. But if the idea of working as a VA sounds like something you’d like to do, you’re in luck — there are more than 20 companies that hire virtual assistants to work from home.

Appen

If you love social media but want something that isn’t client focused (i.e., you don’t have to interact with others), consider becoming an Appen Social Media Evaluator. This is kind of like popular at-home search engine evaluation jobs but with a social media twist. You’ll rate the relevancy of various social updates and generally help make social sharing better for all of us — so, thank you for that 🙂

Lionbridge

Like Appen, mentioned above, Lionbridge also has super flexible social media jobs that don’t require you to interact with clients. Instead, you can become a Personalized Social Media Assessor. You’ll need to be a very active Google user — Play Store, G+, and Gmail are all musts. You’ll be using the information in your Google account to rate the relevancy of results.

Time Etc.

With a few hours to spare each week, you can become a side hustler over at Time Etc. and put your social media skills to work helping clients manage their online presence. Since this is a social-media-meets-virtual-assistant gig, you’ll work on administrative tasks in addition to social assignments.

ModSquad

Join the ModSquad, and you might get a chance to work on social media-driven assignments. I say might because at ModSquad, work is performed on a per-project basis. Sometimes there may be social media projects available — but there’s no guarantee. I’ve written a full review of what it takes to be a Mod and also included a handy guide to help you ace your application just in case this sounds like the perfect gig for you.

Crisp Thinking

Kickstart your social side gig as a moderator at Crisp Thinking and help manage user-generated content on various social channels. You’ll help respond to customer inquiries, moderate comments, and otherwise keep Internet trolls at bay — think of yourself as a social defender!

Remember, these contract positions aren’t always hiring — but it doesn’t hurt to try. And since you’ll be an independent contractor, you’re responsible for paying your own taxes and maintaining your work equipment (computer, internet, etc.) at your expense.

But, what’s great about contract positions is they give you a chance to flex your social media muscle quickly and can help you gain much needed experience if you want to branch out into a full-time role elsewhere.

Other Sources of Social Media Side Hustles

While the companies listed above are known for regularly offering social media side hustles, there’s other places worth checking too. The more gig hunting you do, the greater your chances are of finding something that’s a good fit for you. So, make sure you take your search into your own hands and check out these additional companies too!

Land Gigs on Upwork

Upwork is officially the mecca of freelance work. After combining forces with oDesk and then Elance, there are more than 12 million registered users who engage in $1 billion worth of freelance work each year!

With a properly set up profile and a perfect pitch, you can land as many (or few) social media gigs as you’d like — and believe me when I say, there is plenty of work to go around! Keep in mind, Upwork does take a percentage of your earnings (anywhere from 5 to 20 percent depending on the amount you’ve earned and duration of a project). And, you’ll have to face some pretty stiff competition in the form of your fellow freelancer in order to get gigs. But, there are seemingly endless possibilities to earn here — perfect for beginner social media side hustlers.

You probably won’t find instant success here with your social media side hustle. And that’s okay. Just be prepared to put in the work upfront so you can reap the benefits of steady gigs and stellar feedback that turns into repeat clients later on. Need a little inspiration? There’s a must-listen podcast episode over at Brent Jones Online that is 7 minutes of pure Upwork advice awesomeness to help you kickstart your new social side job.

Keep Your Eye on Indeed

If you’re not searching Indeed daily to find work as a side hustler, you’re seriously missing out. The best part is, you don’t necessarily have to login every day and manually search. You can set up an alert that keeps you up to date on any new social media gigs posted.

As a job search engine, Indeed scours the Internet to find job leads  — you just never know what you’ll find. There’s everything from full-time remote jobs with employee benefits to one-off assignments and contract gigs.

Check it out for yourself. Just type “social media” in the what box below and “remote” in the where box — you might be surprised at the number of social side gigs that show up!

what where
job title, keywords or company
city, state or zip
jobs by

job search

Give Craigslist a Look

Craigslist isn’t all used cars and rentals, there’s actually quite a few work from home jobs to be found. Now keep in mind, with any home-based job search, you’ve got to be on the lookout for scams. And on Craigslist, you’ve got to be a little more hypervigilant than normal. But that doesn’t mean you should overlook this classifieds super site either.

In fact, some big-name companies like Amazon and Groupon are known to post their work from home gigs on Craigslist. The key is knowing where to look — ideally, you’ll want to check some of the largest markets like Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Austin, etc. Typically, if a company is hiring throughout the U.S., they’ll choose a select few markets to post their ads in and, nine times out of ten, it’s the large metropolitan areas they land on.

Then just select the “telecommute” option (screenshot below) once you’re on the jobs page and — voila —  a list of (mostly) remote-friendly positions right before your eyes 🙂 work from home jobs for moms, craigslist work from home jobs

You could also use a site, like SearchTempest, which will search all of Craigslist for you at once — a huge timesaver that yields more results, faster.

But, remember, use your best judgment before applying to any social media side gigs posted here. And always keep these things in mind:

  • If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
  • Don’t ever pay to work for anyone. Period.
  • Perform due diligence — check out a company’s social presence and website.
  • Google can be a big help — search “company name + scam” and see what comes up.

And, when in doubt, move on. It’s not worth falling prey to a scam for the sake of a side hustle!

Create Your Own Social Media Side Hustle

Last, but certainly not least, you could create your own social media hustle. What does that mean, exactly? In a nutshell, it means selling your services directly to clients with no middleman involved. This path requires a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit and a lot of hard work, especially when starting from scratch.

But, going this route often offers the greatest flexibility and gives you a chance to set your own rates, pick when you work, and select your clients. This is a great option if you want to scale your service business from side hustle to eventual full-time business. And doing this isn’t as daunting task as it may seem — especially if you take the right steps to get started the right way.

Pick Your Social Media Niche

First things first, pick a niche. I’m constantly preaching the power of a niche. And for good reason — it’s the quickest way to side hustle success, especially when just starting out.

If you’re not familiar with the term, a niche is a defined area that you specialize in. In terms of social media, a niche could be a particular social channel or a type of client.

Maybe you’ll only assist small businesses manage their Pinterest presence. Perhaps you’ll moderate comments and help find relevant content for lifestyle businesses to pots across all social channels. Or you could even help artists and crafters reach customers on Instagram. Really, the possibilities are endless.

But, ideally, your niche will be something you have an interest in and prior knowledge of. That way you can use your existing knowledge to hit the ground running and won’t burnout (as easily) when your side hustle involves something you truly enjoy doing.

Identify Your Services

Once you’ve picked your niche, you’ll need to figure out which services you’ll offer. Again, this will largely depend on the type of clients you work with and your existing knowledge. But, some services you may want to consider include:

  • Comment moderation
  • Content curation
  • Social media marketing
  • Graphics creation
  • Automation set up (Tailwind, Hootsuite, Buffer, etc.)
  • Advertising campaigns (Facebook ads, Promoted Pins, etc.)

It’s perfectly okay to start small and grow organically. So, don’t feel like you need to know how to create an effective Facebook ad campaign for product launches or know how to use every automation tool out there. You’ll have an easier time selling your services if you can demonstrate value to potential clients — so always go with what you know!

Make Your Own Social Presence Shine

If you’re going to convince brands, bloggers, and businesses that they’ll benefit from using your social media services, your own social media presence better be on point! And this doesn’t mean it needs to be squeaky clean and bland. A good bit of personality is expected on social media but you’ll also want to keep it clean. In other words, be mindful of what you share. Potential clients will definitely be checking out your own social profiles and you want to make a good first impression.

Network Like Crazy (aka Be a Social Butterfly)

I’m gonna guess that networking is second nature for a social media pro like yourself — and that’s great. You’ll put those outreach skills to good use as you make connections with potential clients. In fact, your own social contacts may be a good place to start putting the word out about your new social media side hustle.

And, don’t be afraid to send out cold/warm emails. It really is an effective strategy to start landing clients — quickly. I’ve written an in-depth guide of dos and don’ts of email outreach for beginners. You can read it and other guides created for out-of-the-cube thinkers, like you, by signing up for my Free Resource Library (form is at the bottom of the page).

Put it All Together

Picking a niche, selecting your services, and cleaning up your own social media presence are great ways to jumpstart your own social media side hustle. And to make the most of all your hard work, you’ll want to tie everything together. How? By creating your own service website — and it’s super easy. I’ve created a no-fail guide that will show you everything you need to do, step by step, to create a perfectly polished website that showcases your talent and sells your services for you.

And really, having your own site is an affordable (a few dollars a month) way to present yourself as a serious professional in the social media arena. Think of your own service site as your online business card — but elevated. It will display your contact information, yes, but it will also include what you do and why you’re great. It’s the one-stop shop clients can visit to easily learn more about you and serves as a point of contact to inquire about your work.

Tools of the Trade

As with any industry or side hustle, there are common tools of the trade you should know. For one, they’ll give you a leg up on the competition and two, they can help make your life easier by using them. While not an all-inclusive list, here are some social media tools to look into for both yourself and clients!

Canva

The non-designer platform to quickly and easily create stunning social media graphics. If you plan on offering images as part of your services, you’ll want to put Canva in your toolbox. It’s free to use and there’s plenty of pretty images and eye-catching templates you can use for inspiration. And there’ no software to download — you simply head on over to the website to start creating.

Automation

It’s no secret that most brands, bloggers and businesses heavily rely on popular automation tools to help them stay ahead of their social calendars. Which means, as a social side hustler, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with these tools too. But there really are a lot of them out there, so don’t drive yourself crazy trying to find them all. Instead, focus on a few of the most popular ones and learn those well. You can always add to your repertoire!

This is just a short list of popular automation tools — there really are a lot of them out there, so don’t drive yourself crazy trying to find them all. Instead, focus on a few and learn those well. You can always add to your repertoire!

Social Media Training

If you’re looking to set yourself apart as a go-to social media expert, get certified! Hootsuite has an industry-recognized certification program that will help grow your side hustle while keeping you up to speed in the ever-evolving world of social media. Once complete, you’ll have the credentials to back up your expert-level social media skills!

Side Hustle Help

Need a little help getting your side hustle started? No problem. Head on over to The Side Hustle Starter Kit where Brette will show you how to launch a profitable side hustle from scratch.

Don’t forget to sign up for the Free Resource Library below where you’ll find tons of actionable guides to help you launch your new side hustle. As always, if you have any questions — please ask! I’m here to help: ashlee(at)workfromhomehappiness(dot)com

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How to Piece Together a Living Online https://workfromhomehappiness.com/how-to-piece-together-a-living-online/ https://workfromhomehappiness.com/how-to-piece-together-a-living-online/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2016 20:18:28 +0000 http://workfromhomehappiness.com/?p=1878 If you have ever been unemployed, you know how scary it can be. Trying to find a new job before your savings run out and figuring out how to make ends meet in the meantime is, in a word, stressful. With such a high-degree of what-ifs and potential of losing so much when no income […]

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If you have ever been unemployed, you know how scary it can be. Trying to find a new job before your savings run out and figuring out how to make ends meet in the meantime is, in a word, stressful.

With such a high-degree of what-ifs and potential of losing so much when no income is coming in, it’s hard to imagine someone would willingly quit their job without another one lined up.

But, that’s exactly what I did.

There are endless ways to earn money online. Here's how you can piece together a living online one gig at a time!It was several years back when I told my family and friends I was quitting my job. My announcement was met with more than a few not-so-friendly words of discouragement. Why?

Well, for one, the economy was terrible. So many people were being laid off and were desperate to find a job, any job, that it seemed, well, crazy for someone to walk away from a steady paycheck.

And, secondly, after being pressed about my intentions, I informed everyone that I was going to start a freelance writing career (mind you, I had no professional writing experience to speak of). That admission was met with one of two responses:

  1. Silence and the look
  2. A stifled laugh followed by, “Are you serious?”

I was serious. And never more sure about something than I had ever been before.

You see, while I had a good job, I wasn’t happy. I was terrible at office politics. I felt stir crazy sitting in an office environment up to 60 hours a week. I was not very committed to or very good at climbing the corporate ladder.

The whole song and dance was exhausting. And mind numbing. And tedious. And a few other things that I will omit here.

For me, there was no other option. I needed to take control of my career and create job security for myself at a time when everyone around me was getting laid off. But, more importantly, I needed to do what made me happy. So, I put in my two weeks’ notice and never looked back.

Spoiler Alert: It was the best decision of my life!

If you feel stifled in your career, are worn down making money for others while barely getting by, or feel the need to break free from corporate chains, know this: You can piece together a living online.

It’s not for the faint of heart. And certainly not something I recommend for everyone. But the strong willed, go-getters with a do-what-it-takes mindset can certainly find ways to make ends meet even if it means piecing together a living one gig at a time.

Where to Find Work

As a freelancer, I feel comfortable knowing that, should all of my clients drop off the face of the earth tomorrow, I could have just as many lined up within a week’s time. For me, that is what’s so appealing about freelancing and working on my own terms — I am not reliant on one paycheck and I will never be unemployed.

But, when you first start out, you won’t just have a list of clients flooding your inbox with work requests (for those who want to become a freelancer or solopreneur anyway). So, until you reach a point where you have a steady stream of work, you have to piece together a living.

Thankfully, there are no shortages of opportunities to find ways to quickly earn money from home.

Start Writing

I turned to so-called content mills in the beginning of my career. Specifically, I made the bulk of my earnings writing for Textbroker and BKA (Buy Keyword Articles). But those are just two in a long list of places that hire writers with no experience to churn out one article after another, after another, after another.

The pay isn’t great. But, you can work day or night, how much or little as you’d like since work is almost always available. Now, I know in the world of freelance writing most writers universally loathe content mills because they cheapen the industry as a whole by offering lower than standard industry rates.

However, content mills are a source of steady income and can offer much needed experience when trying to break into a competitive market. You do not have to spend the rest of your career writing for content mills, but they are a good jumping off point and a reliable source of work.

Plus, if you hope to become a freelance writer, writing for content mills can boost your confidence and teaches you how to take constructive criticism. The more you write for them, the better your writing becomes which eventually opens up better opportunities for you.

At the height of my content mill writing career, I would take home $300-$400 a week – and this was just for writing. I was also doing other things to earn money online each week (which I’ll discuss further down the article!)

If writing sounds perfect for you, you can’t go wrong with any number of content mills. In fact, the more you sign up with, the better chance you stand of bringing in a decent paycheck each month.

  1. WriterAccess
  2. The Content Authority
  3. iWriter
  4. Hire Writers
  5. Great Content
  6. Domainite
  7. Article Document
  8. BKA Content
  9. Textbroker

Share Your Thoughts

I love usability testing. It pays well for just a short chunk of your time and is, in my opinion, actually fun to do. Plus, I figure I am going to use apps and visit websites, so I might as well get paid for it. That’s exactly what usability testing does.

Each company operates a bit differently but the general premise is the same: Visit an app or website, complete a set of tasks, speak your thoughts along the way, write a short summary of your experience.

On average, you can earn about $10 for each 10-20 minute test you complete. However, many usability testing companies are emerging that offer small pay for very short tasks. But there are still many more than offer between $8-$15 for your thoughts.

You stand the best chance of earning the most when you sign up for multiple usability testing companies. To this day, I’m an active tester for User Testing and can take home about $200 a month just for being a panelist for them.

  1. Analysia
  2. Apptourage
  3. Enroll 
  4. Erli Bird
  5. Mob4Hire
  6. MyCrowd
  7. StartUpLift
  8. TryMyUI
  9. User Testing
  10. Userlytics
  11. uTest
  12. What Users Do
  13. YouEye

Help Improve Google and Bing

Search engines aren’t perfect (yet). So, the big-name search engine companies turn to humans to help improve the relevancy of search results. This is a popular way to earn money online called Search Engine Evaluation.

There are a few companies that frequently hire home-based evaluators. As a search engine evaluator, you will be given a search query and the corresponding search results. It is your job to rate the relevancy of those results as they relate to the query.

For example, if the query was Paris Hilton, but the search result was for Hilton Hotel reservations in Paris, you wouldn’t rate that as relevant because, chances are, the searcher was looking for more information about hotel heiress, Paris Hilton, and not making a reservation for a Hilton Hotel in Paris France.

You get a lot of these types of queries when working as a search engine evaluator. That’s why it is important to be up to date on pop culture and current events. Otherwise, you won’t be successful as an evaluator.

I worked for iSoftStone on a project and was able to earn about $250 a week working part-time. Search engine evaluation typically pays between $11 and $15 an hour. You can work when you want as long as you meet minimum weekly hours (usually somewhere between 10 and 30 per week depending which company you contract with).

There are initial exams you will have to pass before you can start working on projects. But once you get a feel for the process, it becomes second nature and a valuable piece in your home-based income puzzle.

  1. Leapforce
  2. iSoftStone
  3. Appen
  4. Lionbridge

Get Typing

I am always amazed by how many transcription companies there are out there. Seriously, there are hundreds of them many of which offer contract opportunities for typists with little to no experience.

I have dabbled in home-based typing positions from time to time. Depending on the company you contract with, the nature of work can be quite interesting. You get to listen in on things like interview, sermons, lectures, financial calls, meetings, and market research focus groups as you type what is being said.

But keep in mind, it’s not as easy as it sounds. A lot of skill is required to simultaneously listen to audio and type out what is being said. To do this well and make it worth your time, you need to type quickly and accurately.

Most transcription opportunities pay per audio hour. Remember, an audio hour and an actual hour are two very different things. So, when you see an advertised pay rate for a transcription job as $35 per hour, it is actually $35 for every hour of audio hour you transcribe.

As a general rule, it will take you about four hours to transcribe every hour of audio. So, when the pay is $35 for each audio hour, that amounts to roughly $8.75 per real hour.

Of course, the quicker you type the more you can make. It also depends on how clear your audio is. Most transcription companies that hire beginners do not require any special equipment to get started. However, to make your life easier you should at least invest in a decent pair of headphones specifically meant for transcribing. These will produce a better sound quality than standard headphones making it easier for you to transcribe what is being said and, in doing so, increasing your earning capacity.

  1. Accutran Global 
  2. Appenscribe 
  3. Bam!
  4. Birch Creek Communications
  5. CastingWords
  6. Crowdsurf
  7. Daily Transcription
  8. Get Transcribed
  9. GMR Transcription
  10. Neal R. Gross 
  11. RNK Transcription
  12. Scribie
  13. Tigerfish
  14. Transcriptions ‘N’ Translations
  15. TranscribeMe!
  16. Ubiqus
  17. 1-888-TYPE-IT-UP
  18. Verbal Ink
  19. 3Play Media

Become a Virtual Assistant

The virtual assistant scene has exploded in popularity in recent years. This is a good thing for those who want to put their administrative skills to use without toiling away at a front desk in an office environment.

There are a number of companies who contract with individuals to provide help to businesses and busy entrepreneurs with things like social media, marketing, content creation, and calendaring. The nature of your responsibilities will depend on which company you contract with and the clients you are assigned to work with.

I worked as a Virtual Assistant (VA) for Fancy Hands. Fancy Hands works on a crowdsourced platform. Clients submit requests to get things done and these requests make their way on a dashboard that all VAs have access to. Tasks are claimed on a first-come-first-served basis. Each task is worth a set dollar amount (typically between $2-$7). The pay rate is based on the complexity of the task. Keep in mind, all tasks should take no more than 20 minutes to complete!

Fancy Hands pays via Dwolla every two weeks. For about a six-month stretch, I used Fancy Hands as my primary source of income after I was burned out from freelance writing. I was able to earn a decent part-time living while I was taking a much-needed break.

All in all, I would work as a Fancy Hands VA again if need be. It was great being able to log in and work on tasks any time day or night – there was almost always work available, even at 4:00 a.m.

There are other companies that hire VAs, too. However, none of them are quite as flexible or autonomous as Fancy Hands.

  1. Lifebushido
  2. EA Help
  3. Worldwide 101
  4. Gabbyville
  5. Care 2 Share
  6. Time Etc.
  7. Paragon Planners

Start Freelancing

You can ease your way into freelancing by signing up with one of the several popular freelancers’ marketplaces. There are thousands of jobs to be found here. The competition with your fellow freelancer can be fierce, but there are ways to increase your chances of getting awarded jobs.

In general, clients post jobs on these sites and freelancers submit bids/proposals outlining how why they are a good fit for the gig and how much they will charge to get it done. Then the client selects the freelancer they want to work with. Most of these sites are free to use. You pay a percentage of your earnings to the freelance site.

The way to get more jobs is all in your proposals. Most freelancers approach the proposal process all wrong by talking about themselves the entire time. For example, let’s say a client posts a gig needing a weekly blog post. You will see an overwhelming number of proposals from freelancers that read like this:

As an experienced writer and blogger, I have the skills and expertise needed to get the job done. I have a degree in English from ABC University and over ten years of experience writing content for Big Name Company and XYZ Corporation. I have also been featured in the Gotham Gazette and Better Homes Than Yours.

These pitches are often discarded by clients before they are even fully read. Why? Because they are all about the freelancer and are, quite frankly, boring. The client wants to know what you can do for them first and foremost. Once they understand how you can help them, then they consider credentials and experience.So, instead of writing a pitch that reads as me, me, me, take the time to tell the client what you can do for them.

I started freelancing on Elance, but that is winding down operations to become part of the mecca of all freelance marketplaces known as Upwork.

Upwork is free to use. You get 60 connects per month for the free plan. If you use more than that, you will need to pay. In all my months freelancing, I have never had to pay for connects (connects = submitted proposals). When I have a lull in work from my standard clients, I always turn to Upwork. There are tons of gigs available and you can be a bit picky when deciding which ones to pitch for.

Plenty of clients offer terrible wages, but many more offer very fair and reasonable rates. So, if a job is listed at a far too low rate, don’t apply to it. Reserve your connects for jobs you are interested in and pay fair wages.

Piecing it All Together

If you are still with me at this point, you may be wondering, “How on earth do you make it work doing so many things at once?”

Well, there’s no set answer. How much success you have depends on how bad you want to succeed. I was so determined to earn a living on my own terms that I was willing to do whatever it took to make ends meet. If you have the same mindset, you too can piece together a living entirely online.

You have to make the commitment to work every day. If you have small children or other caretaker responsibilities, this may mean waking up early or staying up later. Just remember, you are entirely in charge of your earning capacity.

The things I’ve mentioned above, are all ways I pieced together a living at various times without having a traditional job. I was able to comfortably make a living which, to me, meant being able to cover all of my bills and put away a little extra each and every month.

There are plenty of others ways to earn a living online too, many of which involve securing a home-based job. These are actual employee-based positions with set schedules, pay, benefits — just like being in an office, but at home. If those are the sort of positions you think you may best be suited for, check out these articles:

7 Phone Jobs with Benefits

Companies that Hire You as an Employee Instead of an IC

Work from Home Customer Service Jobs

If you like the idea of working from home, but aren’t quite ready to commit to an independent-earning lifestyle, check out the Moonlighter’s Guide to Working from Home for ideas how to earn from home without quitting your day job.

Looking for more? Read up on the Top 10 Ways to Make Money Online and learn what it takes to be your own boss while working from home.


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